Surreal Memes: What Is It And How To Make One

Since 2015, surreal memes have been taking the internet by storm with its absurd humor style and bizarre appearance.

What are surreal memes, and how do you make one? Surreal memes are baseless, abstract creations that make you laugh and make you feel strange, at the same time. Using the Cut Paste Photos Pro three-step editing tool, you can create the most ironic and weirdest surreal memes!

Despite the lack of grounding of these surreal memes, why do many people still procrastinate and swoon over these memes? Although literally, no one can explain these surreal memes, what do you have to keep in mind in making one?

Create Your Own Surreal Memes

Step #1: Find Meme Man and Orang

Before you create your very own surreal memes, make sure to download the images of Meme Man and Orang (Mr. Orange). They are the sought-after characters you would need to make these “layers of irony” memes.

Step #2: Upload to Cut Paste Photos Pro

Once you’ve downloaded the image, it’s time to upload it to Cut Paste Paste Photos Pro. Launch the app and click on “Choose from Library” to choose the image you want to use for your meme. For this meme, I will use the businessman Meme Man.

Step #3: Crop It Out

Once the image is uploaded, you now have the option to crop it. You can either choose from the six different shape options or use “Free Hand” to crop it in whatever shape you want.

Step #4: Use “Object Tools”

In this part, you can play with the cropped image. You can make it smaller, bigger, wider, or narrower. You can also turn your image into black-and-white or multiply it to two. Or if you want to be more playful, you can even flip it upwards, downwards, to the left or to the right.

For this meme, I just made the image smaller and put it on the lower right side of the screen.

Step #5: Add Background

You can choose a background from the nine categories: Animals, Architecture, Cars, Fantasy, Florals, Funny, Interior, Landmarks or Nature. You can also use a single color, or in my case, I chose one from my gallery.

Step #6: Add Text

A meme wouldn’t be a meme without some text. So here, I added some words to complete my surreal meme.

Step #7: Animated Effects?

Before you save your finished product, the app will pop-up a question if you want to add animated effects. You can choose among Glass Firework, Christmas, Hearts, Christmas Tree, Snow, Rain or Flying Leaves.

If you choose to apply one, your meme will turn into a 5-second video. Or, if you decide not to apply animated effects, you can simply click “no” and save it as it is.

Step #8: Save and Share

Lastly, once you’re done creating your surreal meme, you can save it on your device on a JPG or PNG format. You can also share it on your social media accounts. So, be sure to link your accounts to Cut Paste Photos Pro. Enjoy!

Why Are Surreal Memes So Good?

No one, I mean literally no one, can fully explain what a surreal meme really means. But why are so many people so hooked into it? Because it’s senseless, baseless and groundless. Its humor is so disoriented that you will just find yourself laughing and uncomfortable at the same time.

So the next time you look at a surreal meme, and you don’t quite get it, don’t feel bad. You’re not alone. We’re all just laughing and pretending we get it, but we don’t. The real definition of “surreal meme” does not exist.

Another reason why surreal memes are so good is that they never talk about politics, celebrities, or any controversial topics. With the internet being bombarded with these controversies, surreal memes prove to be a great escape.

Those who post surreal content distinguish themselves as a more serious consumer of internet culture. These ‘surreal memes’ may also reflect the still-emerging meta meme culture that wants to preserve itself from the so-called ‘normies.’

People post surreal memes as their way to be strange and weird without talking about current events. The internet climate has turned into a world where posts were either incredibly biased or really safe. But with the surreal memes on it, people can push expectations in a way that’s not too political, edgy, or problematic.

Surreal memes also appeal to many because they feel like a protest of the typical meme culture’ found on the internet. While we enjoy a lot of ‘normal’ memes circulated on the internet, they can grow old over time. What’s cool today may die and be swept away on the sea of dead memes tomorrow.

What are the Differences Among Surreal Memes, Deep Fried Memes, and Dank Memes?

Surreal memes, Deep Fried memes, and Dank memes may have subtle differences. But a true man of culture can easily identify which is which. So, without further ado, let’s get on to it.

First up, you can be sure it’s a Surreal Meme if Meme Man or Orang is in it. That’s an obvious thing to look for. Also, look for what looks like glitchy texts. That’s also a trademark of surreal memes.

Secondly, Deep Fried Memes are images that went through dozens of filters to the point they appear grainy, washed-out, and strangely colored. These memes went popular on Black Twitter, such as Real Nigga Hours and Spell ICUP Nigga. These are some examples of the Deep Fried Memes.

Lastly, the Dank Memes. “Dank Memes” refers to online viral media and in-jokes that are intentionally bizarre or exhausted comedic value that went cliché.

The word “dank” originally refers to high-quality marijuana. So, “dank” in the meme world is satirically used as a synonym for “cool.” Examples of the “dankest memes” are the following.

Are Surreal Memes Still Alive?

With lots of memes and trends that come and go every minute of every day, can surreal memes still survive? Surprisingly, they still do.

It’s the lack of grounding of surreal memes that helped them to endure. They don’t contain specific cultural references, so this genre can’t just be phased out. They’re not even openly political, so they can’t really milkshake duck.

Moderators of surreal memes appear to be stricter than many Instagram creators. They try their best to keep the contents completely separated from modern reality. For example, they have this strict rule against using brand names in memes, although fake brands can get a pass.

They may give bizarre-but-weirdly-powerful commentary on the human condition, but they’re not really about anything. It’s not like they are overly fanatic about changing world conditions. No, they’re not. Because if they do, they won’t stay in this realm at all.

Maester_Patrick explained, “We would … like to enforce that these memes are referencing a state of ‘beyond reality’ absurdism, and for this reason, we don’t like to see memes that reference real brands, people, or elements of pop culture.” He added, “Furthermore, we see no reason to allow our sub to be milked.”

Then again, there’s always the chance that surreal memes could also grow old just like all the other memes. The joke could become played out, as the genre becomes more popular, and more people begin making memes with the same style.

Uniqueness and absurdity are hard to sustain once it hits the internet and a majority of consumers enjoy it. Surreal memes may still look bizarre now, but if we always see it and there’s nothing new about it, it may start feeling normal. That could kill this meme.

So while it’s still here, let’s enjoy it to the fullest!